Movies Movies Movies! Am I a Twi-hard or Do I Secretly Yearn to be a Bond Girl?

The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn Part Two vs. Skyfall

I love movies. If you check out my About page on my website, it’s #25 of the 30 things about me. I love movies. Last week I saw two in one week and of course, now I need to post about them!!

So what’s it going to be – am I a Twi-hard or do I want to be a Bond girl? For some this is a no –brainer, but for me, it’s a little more difficult and I’m not sure if I’ve really made my decision.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part Two

Has it always been called that? What a God-awful long name to keep typing! So as of now, I’ll refer to any of the movies as Twilight #1-5 and everyone should know what I’m talking about. And if you don’t, I’m guessing you’re not that into the Twilight movies and don’t really care about what I say about them!

I will freely admit to reading and rereading the books. I’ve seen all four of the movies, all more than once and even bought the little book about that teenage vamp Bree. I picked sides – Team Jacob all the way. Why, you ask? Have you seen him shirtless? Plus, Edward’s a bit of a wuss and the whole need to dominate and control brings back too many bad high school memories. But I’ve never really jumped totally on the bandwagon. I may have run along beside it, maybe sat on it once or twice but never got on for the duration. I doesn’t mean I don’t like the movies – I do. Great entertainment, especially since I’m an adult and the movies are based on YA books.

I acknowledge and accept those who are die-hard, fervent fans and I admire (and envy) Stephenie Meyer for producing that sort of devotion for her writing. I spent time with a Twi-hard (more than one!) when movie #3 came out and it was a lot of fun to take part in her worship of all things Edward. (That’s when I was sitting on the bandwagon) I went to see #3 with three other females and that was an experience to write home about. There was quite a bit of cheering when shirtless Jacob made his appearances!

My main concern with the books/movies is Edward’s character. He needs to man up, stop brooding and just suck some blood! Stop making yourself miserable and stop with the obsessing about Bella’s safety! She’s not going to break and if she does, it’s completely fixable.

Saying that, in this last movie, Bella is a vampire (it’s not a spoiler – everyone knew what was coming) and her transformation transforms the entire series! Edward and Bella stop being pouty little high schoolers, moping about how they aren’t good for each other and start having fun. They get to have sex! They smile and laugh and fly through the air and have more sex! Really, if I got to be a vampire, that’s all I would do. Have awesome vampire sex, and fly through the air.

Right off the bat there’s a new vibe to the movie. You can tell when Bella shoves her BFF Jacob into a tree for having the hots for her daughter. Bella is having fun. Edward is smiling. Jacob isn’t morphing into a wolf all the time to go and pout/howl over his lost love. It’s a good movie.

There’s absolutely no character development though. Really, there are too many characters – some don’t even get any dialogue, let alone a proper introduction. And there’s not enough Bily Burke, who I adore since Revolution brought him and his swash-buckling ways to my T.V. every Monday. And my favourites Jasper, Esme, Alice and Seth Clearwater have nothing to do.

But what makes it great is THE TWIST!

Part of me doesn’t want to put anything about it in here in case I ruin it for others, but the other part of me suspects any true fan will have already seen the movie. Plus, it’s been out for a while.

So I won’t give too many details and I will add SPOILER ALERT!

When Aro killed Carlisle – not just killed, but ripped off his freaking head – I gasped. Really loudly. And then when they killed Jasper I almost cried, watching the remainder of the scene with a combination of horror and delight. Esme! SETH! Poor Leah! How could they do this? How could they change things? This wasn’t what happened in the book!

Actually it was. Alice showed Aro what could happen, only we never really got to read about. Kudos to Stephenie Meyer, director Bill Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg for changing it up like that. I think the ending would have been a bit boring without it.

I’m not a movie reviewer but I think this one deserves 4 stars, just for the ending alone.

Skyfall

Bond. James Bond.

I love action movies. I love to be entertained by the movies. I love when they take my brain and hotwire it to what’s happening on screen, making me think and wonder and learn and leave me talking about it when I’m walking out. And I love movies that just let me switch off my brain for two hours, leave me commenting on what I’ve seen but giving me no real intellectual stimulation. Most of the time, those are the movies that are the most fun.

Skyfall is one of those movies. You know what you’re getting when you buy your ticket. Non-stop action, sexy women, funny wittisms, and Judi Dench, who is great in anything she’s in. My only criticism of the Harry Potter movies is that they didn’t find her a role, since every other worthwhile British actor was in those films.

I’ve never read any Bond books, nor have I seen all of the movies. I started watching with Roger Moore’s last A View to a Kill in 1985 and backtracked with a few of the early Connery ones. I suffered through Timothy Dalton and I fell in love with Pierce Bronson as Bond, even though Sean Connery was pretty freaking awesome.

But Daniel Craig…sigh. (That was because of the mental image that popped up of him in his little baby-blue bathing suit. Sorry, back to the movie)

Other than a slow moving chase in the London Tube, Skyfall is a rollicking good time. I think it’s the best of Daniel Craig’s three outings as Bond. There’s lots of delving into the past with a visit to Bond’s childhood home and a cameo from the original Aston Martin car. Javier Bardem is great as a psychotic ex-agent and the new Q is adorably geeky. They completely destroy a house. Again, like Twilight – four stars for the ending alone.

I can’t begin to compare these two movies, since the only thing they have in common are there dedicated fan bases and the impact they have had on pop culture. They both do have good villains, however. Michael Sheen and Jaview Bardem are both clearly having loads of fun playing the bad guys. So, Twight #5 and the latest Bond have really nothing in common but both are immensely entertaining in their own specific ways and I enjoyed both.

So…

Am I a Twi-hard? I must confess I am, especially after this last movie. I wasn’t as excited to see #5 as I was #3 but that might have been because I missed being around Bodie’s infatuation with all things Edward, and didn’t have Trish, Ana and Kristina to see the movie with. But this one pulled me right back in and I’m glad the series ended on such a high.

Would I really want to be a Bond girl? If I could be one of those kick-ass types, like Halle Berry was – of course! Let me have a turn! But the ones where Bond has sex with them, then tries to rescue/save them from themselves, no thanks. They always end up dead, and in not nice ways. Even a night with Daniel Craig isn’t worth that! But the girl in Skyfall – the one who survives – would be great to play. Even before we find out she’s Moneypenny, there’s great banter between her and Bond, which I’m sure led true fans to surmise she was Monneypenny even before the big reveal. So, yes I would love to be a Bond girl if I could be like her. But since no one is knocking on my door to give me that chance, I’ll settle for watching the movies.